Atlanta — January 21, 2008

A report calling for the expansion of medical education in Georgia was accepted today by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in a special called meeting.

The report, prepared on behalf of the regents by the Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, Tripp Umbach, was presented to and officially received by the board during its January 15 meeting. Today’s action by the board means that the regents will take the report under advisement for planning purposes.

The report calls for the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) School of Medicine to expand statewide to 1,200 students by 2020, from 745 students currently, an increase of approximately 60 percent. The consultant’s study recommends that expansion should occur simultaneously in Augusta, where MCG is located, at MCG’s two clinical campuses, Southwest Georgia Clinical Campus, based at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, and the new southeast clinical campus under development in Savannah; and through the development of a new four-year campus in Athens in partnership with the University of Georgia (UGA).

In his Fiscal Year 2009 budget, Gov. Sonny Perdue has recommended $7.2 million in funding to the USG for the purpose of medical expansion.

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